Amusement apparatus



March 29, 193s.

A. w. swENsoN AMUSEMENT APPARATUS 'Filed March so, 19:56

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March 29, 1938. A. w. swENsoN *2,112,255

' AMUSEMENT APPARATUS Filed March 30, 1936 3 Sheets-'Sheet l2 @www March 29, 1938. A. w. swENsoN l AMUSEMENT 'APPARATUS Filed March 50, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet N VE NTOQl Crrur Ofwensorz palm, M, J

cATTOEyS Patented Mar. 29, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AMUSEBIENT APPARATUS Arthur W. Swenson, Rockford, Ill. Application March 30, 1936, SerialNo. 71,660

7 Claims.

This invention relates to amusement apparatus of the type in which balls are projected onto `an inclined playing surface within a closed casing and allowed to gravitate therealong into different scoring pockets.

One object of the invention is to provide an amusement 'apparatus of the above character having a novel device for enabling a player to intercept or catch a ball rolling down along the 1 0 playing surface and to control the projection of such ball upwardly along the surface toward a selected target or scoring pocket.

Another object is to associate with the ball receiving device a power operated kicker or shooter arranged to project a' caught ball at any angle selected by the player.

A further object is to provide a ball catching device arranged in the above manner and adapted to be positioned selectively for catching balls and directing the angle of projection. thereof by means operable manually from a point exteriorly of the casing in which the playing surface is housed.

The invention also resides in the novel construction of the movable ball receiving device `which enables balls to be caught` readily and yet .guided accurately in their projection from the device and which delays the projectionofy a ball after the latter has been caught so as to afford a time interval during which the player may adjust the position' of the device for shooting the ball in the desired direction.

Still another object is to provide amusement apparatus of the above general character having a score register responsive to balls received in different pockets, and means operating at random and independently of the will of the player to vary the score recorded on the register by different balls received in the same pocket.

Other objects and advantages ofthe invention will become-apparent fromthe following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of an apparatus embodying the novel features of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a section taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section taken along the line 3--3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a section taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 6.

Figs. 5 and 6 are sections taken along the lines 5-5 and 6-6 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a section taken along the line 'I-l of Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view ol?A a modified form of ball catching and projecting device. u'

While the invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, I 5 have shown in the drawings and will herein'describe in detail the preferred embodiment, but it is to be understood that I do not thereby intend to limit the invention to the specific form disclosed, but intend to cover all modifications and 10 alternative constructions falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as expressedin the appended claims.

In the exemplary form shown in the drawings, the invention isv embodied in apparatus of the 15 so-called bagatelle type comprising a box-like casing I0 having a transparent top or cover II and supporting a flat plate or board I2 providing an upperplaying surface I3 whichis inclined at `an angle such that balls I4, which are used inthe 2O play, will gravitate readily therealong. By manipulation of a ball lift operating member I5 and a plunger or shooter I6 in a well knownv manner, balls stored withinl the casing Ill may be projected along a guideway I'I onto the upper 25 portion of the playing surface.

'Ihe balls gravitating along the surface may be received in irregularly spaced pockets formed by holes I8 and pins I9 upstanding thyerearound. A ball falling through any one ,of the holes isre- 30 ceived in an inclined channel 20 mounted on the underside of the board I2 and arranged to direct the ball back to the storage reservoir. The balls passingall of the holes roll into a channel 2l and are returned to storage through a hole 22. 35

The invention contemplates the provision of a shiftable pocket or catching device generally indicated by the numeral 23 and controllable from a point exteriorly of the casing Il) to enable the player to catch a ball rolling down along laterally 40 spaced portions of the playing surface and to control the upward projection of the ball toward a selected target or high scoring pocket. In the present instance, the device 23 comprises an elongated U-shaped channel opening upwardly along 45 the playing surface and having side walls 25 rigid with and upstanding from y a plate 26 clamped by screws 2lia to an upright sleeve 21 which projects through an aperture in the lower part of the board I2 and is journaled in a bearing 50 28. The pocket is thus' supported from its lower end to swing horizontally across the playing surface so that its upper open end may be positioned to receive ballsrolling down different portions of the playing surface. 55

Preferably, swinging of the pocket from side to side is eiected by manually shifting a handle 30 on the outer end of a rod 3| projecting through and slidable endwise in the front wall of the casing IIJ. The other end of the rod is upturned and connected to the free end of an arm 32 rigid with and projecting laterally from a plate 33 clamped by the scews 2|a to the lower end of the sleeve 21. The pocket 23 will be swung counter-clockwise When the knob 30 is pushed inwardly and clockwise by pulling outwardly on the knob.

The pocket is equipped with a power actuated kicker for projecting a caught ball upwardly out i of the pocket in a direction determined by the Y angular setting of the pocket. Herein the kicker comprises a stiff arm 34 and a parallel flexible arm 35 separated by blocks 38 of insulation and clamped by screws 31 to a plateV 38 which is pivoted on a horizontal pin 39 supported in bracketarms 48 depending from the plate 33. The f ree ends ofthe kicker arms extend upwardly through the sleeve 21 and close the lower end of thepocket 23 so as to be-engaged by a ball rolling -into the pocket. l

A leaf spring 4| fast on the plate 38 and bearing at its free end against the core 42 of a magnet 43 normally maintains the arms 34 and 35 retracted as shown in Fig. 2. The magnet is supported by a bracket member 44 on the plate 33. When the coil of. the magnet is energized, the plate 38, which constitutes the magnet armature, will be attracted, and the upper ends ofthe arms 34 and 35 will be projected longitudinally of the pocket toward the upper end thereof. -Accordingly, a ball in the pocket will be projected upwardly along the playing surface I3. l

Preferably provision is made for energizing the magnet 43 automatically as an incident to movementof a ball into the lowermost portion of the pocket. This is accomplished by controllingV the energizing circuit (notshown) of the magnet by a switch 45 comprising contacts carried by the arms 34 and 35 and arranged to engage each other and close the switch when the arm 35 is engaged and flexed by a ball rolling into the pocket. To allow the player sufficient time after catching `the ball to set the pocket 23.for upward projection of the ball at the desired angle, the side walls 25 of the pocket are made relatively long `so that the desired time interval elapses between entry of the ball in the upper end of the pocket and engagement of the ball with the arm 35.

The sides 25.of the .pocket are spaced apart a distance only slightly greater than the diameter of the balls |4 so that the walls act as guides in directing the course of the projected balk-,At their upper ends, the walls 25 are flared outwardly and are curved as indicated Vat 41 to form a cupshaped opening for the pocket, which opening has a width substantially greater than the diameter of the balls. YWith the pocket thus constructed, catching of a ball is facilitated since the open end of the pocket need be positioned only in the approximate line of gravitation of the ball along the playing surface. Thus Va player may, by quick movement of the handle V3|), position the pocket to receive a downwardly rolling lball and then may, by quickly turning the pocket tothe'proper position, cause the ball to be projected in the desired direction. Y Y

The targets toward which the player tries to direct a ball projected from the pocket 23 may take [various forms Herein these pockets comprise holes 50 and 5| positionednear-the top of the playing surface and partially surrounded by surrounding the hole 50.

`lower side of the hole to permit a ball to pass between them and to facilitate deflection of the ball into the hole. A ball may be rolled into the hole 50 only by rebounding from one of several deilectors 55 comprising leaf springs anchored in fixed blocks 56 and set at the proper angles.

vA exible defiector 51 also serves to direct balls.`

rebounding from the springsy 55 into the area y Thus, when the pocket 23 is positioned as shown in dotted outline in Fig. 1, a ball projected therefrom will strike one of the springs 55 and will be deected by the spring 51 toward the pins 52 from which it may rebound into the hole 50 or roll back down the playing surface. Y

In order to provide for a wider range of movement of the pocket 23, the latter may, if desired, be arranged for bodily movement laterally of the board |2 as well as for pivotal movement. For this purpose the sleeve 21 may be disposed in a horizontal slot 80, Fig. 8, extending transversely of the board and mounted on a block 6| slidable along a rod 62 which is mounted beneath the board. The block supports a iiange 63 which projects through a slot 64 in the front wall of a casing l and Yslidably supports the rod 35|. By shifting the vknob 30 laterally, the entire pocket support may be moved, while the pocket may be swung about its pivot by moving the rod 3| endwise in the manner previously described.

If desired, projection of a ball caught in thev pocketA 23 maybe controlled manually. To this end the switch 45 is connected in series with a switch operated by a push button 65 supported by the knob 30, Fig. 8. c Y

Games of the character above described are frequently equipped with means for indicating the cumulative score made by rolling balls, into the different holes. Such indication may be given by numbers appearing through a window 10 in the board I2 and carried on the periphery of a disk`1| loose on a shaft 12 supported in the casing lbeneath the board 2. Means is provided for advancing the indicator disk with a step-by-step movement. Herein this means includes a clock spring 13 coiled about the shaft 12 and having one end anchored at 14 in the disk and the other end xed to a rachet wheel 15 loose on the shaft and held against counterclockwise rotation by a check pawl 16. The spring is kept wound by reciprocation of a pawl, 11 engaging the ratchet wheel and mounted on a rod 18 which is arranged to be reciprocated each time the ball lift is actuated.

Normally the wheel 1I is held against rotation by a pawl 19 engaging gear teeth 80 on the wheel and carried by a bell crank lever 8| pivoted at`82.

Rotatably supported by a pin 83 onA the liever 8| is a gear segment 84 urged by a spring 85 into the position shown in Fig, 7. Asvthe lever 8| is swung to retract the pawl against the ac- Vtion of a spring 90, the teeth 86 of the segment are carried into mesh with the teeth 80 so that the segmentrotates with the wheel 1| under the action of the spring 13 until a pin 81 onthe segment engages a stop shoulder 88 on the lever 8|. In this way, the disk is advanced through a predetermined angle` each time the lever 8| is operated. Operation of the latter occurs upon each energization of an electromagnet 9| having an armature 92 pivoted intermediate its ends at 93 and bearing upwardly at its outer end against aroller all on the lever 8l. 1 e

The magnet 9i is arranged to be energized one or more times in response to the movem-entof each ball along the channels 2li after falling through one of the holes I8, 5l), and 5i. This is accomplished by depression of fingers 95 to 98 pivoted at 9Ba on the underside of the board l2 and extending upwardly into the channels 2B through slots 99 in the bottoms thereof. Leaf springs lill) anchored at Hl! urge the lingers upwardly into the position shown in Fig. 4. The spring Hill cooperates with the contact on a second leaf spring IEE to form a switch H33 which is normally open but is closed by depression of the linger by a ball rolling down the channel. The finger 95 is positioned centrally of the channel so as to be engaged by each ball.

Preferably, the other fingers 96, 97, and 98 are spaced longitudinally of the channel 2U leading from the high scoring pockets 56 and 5l and are positioned laterally of the channel so that a ball may roll past each linger without engaging the same depending on the path which the ball takes. For this purpose the channel is made substantially wider than the ball and the fingers are located so that the distances between them and opposite side walls are respectively greater and less than the ball diameter.

It will be thus seen that if a ball falling through the hole 50 takes the proper path, all

of the lingers 95 to 98 will be depressed causing the magnet to be energized four times and the counter-wheel to be advanced four steps. Or the ball may pass the fingers 96, 9i, and 98 in which case the wheel would be advanced one step only in response to depression of the finger 95. If the fingers 95 and 96 alone are engaged, the wheel will be advanced two steps. From the foregoing it will be seen that the score registered by advance of the wheel 'il in response to the ball falling through one of the holes 5U or 5I will be varied at random and independently of the will of the player. Such action adds materially to the interest of playing the game.

I claim as my invention:

l. Amusement apparatus having, in combination, an inclined playing surface down which balls may gravitate, a pocket for catching balls disposed above said surface including elongated parallel walls spaced apart a distance somewhat greater than the diameter of one of said balls so as to constitute a ball guideway and extensions of said walls diverging from the Walls to denne a substantially widened open end for said pocket, means supporting said pocket with said open end facing upwardly along said surface and for movement of the end laterally of the surface into different positions for lcatching balls gravitating along different positions of the surface, manually controllable means by which said pocket may be shifted to different selected positions, a kicker movable with said pocket and adapted when actuated to project a caught ball upwardly out of the pocket along said surface and between said walls, and means positioned for engagement with a caught ball rolling tol the lower portion of said guideway to effect automatic actuation of said kicker.

2. Amusement apparatus having, in Icombination, an inclined playing surface down which balls may gravitate, a pocket for catching balls disposed above said surface and having an open end facing upwardly along the latter, said open end being substantially wider than the diameter of said balls, means supporting said pocket for movement of said open end laterally of said surface to position the same for catching balls rolling down different portions of the surface, selectively operable means for positioning said pocket, a kicker movable with said pocket and adapted when actuated to project a caught ball out of said pocket upwardly along said surface in a direction determined by the position of the pocket, and means engageable with a ball rolling along said surface Within said pocket to effect automatic actuation of said kicker.

3. Amusement apparatus having, in combination, an inclined playing surface down which balls may gravitate, a pocket for catching balls disposed above said surface and having an open end facing upwardly along the latter, said open end being substantially wider than the diameter of said balls, means supporting said pocket for movement of said open end laterally of said surrace to position the same for catching balls rolling down different portions of the surface, selectively operable means for positioning said pocket, a kicker movable with said pocket and adapted when actuated to project a caught ball out of said pocket upwardly along said surface in a direction determined by the position of the pocket, electromagnetic means movable with said pocket and adapted when energized to actuate said kicker, and means for causing energization of electromagnetic means when engaged by a caught ball rolling down said surface whereby to effect reprojection of the ball upwardly out of said pocket.

4. Amusement apparatus having, in combination, an inclined playing surface down which balls may gravitate, a pocket having side walls cooperating with said `surface to dei-lne an elongated iball guideway with an enlarged open end, means pivotally supporting said pocket above said surface to turn about an upright axis adjacent the opposite end of said guideway whereby to permit the said enlarged end of the guideway to be shifted laterally of said surface for receiving balls gravitating along different portions of the surface, manually operable means by which said pocket may be swung about said axis to position said open end selectively, a power actuated kicker member disposed in said guideway adjacent said axis and adapted when actuated to move upwardly along said guideway irrespective of the angle at which said guideway may be disposed, and means operating in timed relation to movement of a caught ball along said guideway to cause automatic actuation of said member and reprojection of the ball thereby along said guideway.

5. Amusement apparatus having, in combination, an inclined playing surface down which balls may gravitate, an elongated pocket having an opening at one end facing upwardly along said surface, means pivotally supporting said pocket to turn about an upright axis spaced from. said opening whereby to permit said opening to be positioned selectively across said surface for receiving balls rolling down different portions thereof, a power operated kicker member disposed in said pocket and adapted when actuated to move upwardly along said surface longitudinally of said pocket irrespective of the angular position of the latter, and means for causing automatic actuation of said member in response to movement of a caught ball to the lower portion of said pocket, the side walls of said pocket serving to guide the reprojected ball and determine the direction of discharge thereof from the pocket.

6. Amusement apparatus having, in combination, an inclined playing surface down which balls may gravitate, a pocket for catching balls disposed above said surface and having an open end facing upwardly along the latter, said open end being substantially Wider Ythan the diameter of said balls, means supporting said pocket for movement of said open end laterally of said surface, manually controllable means by which said pocket may be shifted selectively for catching balls rolling down different portions of said surface, a control member positioned for engagement with a ball rolling down said surface within said pocket, and a kicker actuated automatically in response to engagement of said member by a caught ball and operable when so actuated to reproject the ball upwardly along said surface in a direction predetermined by the position of the pocket at the time of such reproj ection, said pocket including means for interposing a suflicient delay between entry of a ball in said open end and engagement of said member to permit of repositioning of said pocket for reprojection of the ball along any selected path.

'7. Amusement apparatus having, in combination, an inclined playing surface down which balls may gravitate, a pocket for catching balls disposed above said surface including elongated parallel walls spaced apart a distance somewhat greater than the diameter of-one of said balls so as to constitute a ball guideway and extensions of said walls diverging from the Walls to define a substantially widened open end for said pocket,means supporting said pocket with said open end facing upwardly along said surface and for movement of the end laterally of the surface into different `positions for catching balls gravitating along different positions of the surface, manually controllable means by which said pocket may be shifted to different selected positions, mechanism movable laterally of said surface with said pocket and adapted when actuated to project a caught ball in the pocket upwardly along said surface at an angle determined by the position of said walls at the time of such projection.

ARTHUR W. SWENSON. 

